The UK operation of Ticketmaster returned to profit during its latest financial year ahead of the anticipated boost it will receive from the controversial ticketing of Oasis’ reunion tour.
The London-headquartered division has reported a pre-tax profit of £19.7m for 2023, up from the pre-tax loss of £12m it fell to in 2022.
Newly-filed accounts with Companies House also show that the arm’s turnover rose from £126.6m to £153.5m over the same period.
The results have been published after Ticketmaster acted as one of the three ticket sellers for Oasis’ reunion tour earlier this year.
More events leads to Ticketmaster returning to the black
A statement signed off by the board said: “Overall profitability significantly increased in the period, primarily due to the volume of events on sale in the year and both the business’s ability to secure the related ticket allocations and successfully sell them through.
“Additionally, in the prior year, the company abandoned its head office lease with two years remaining, which resulted in an accounting charge being booked to reflect this.”
During the year the average number of people employed by Ticketmaster UK rose from 573 to 660.
The results come after the bosses of SJM shared a huge pay day of almost £15m.
The six directors of Stockport-headquartered SJM were handed a share of a £14.8m dividend for the company’s latest financial year, up from the £7.3m pay out for 2022.
The pay day was revealed in accounts with Companies House which also showed the firm achieved a pre-tax profit of £15.3m for 2023, down from £17.7m.
However, its turnover increased from £274.9m to £286.4m during the same 12-month period.
SJM was co-founded by Chris York and Simon Moran and has promoted shows for the likes of Take That, Spice Girls, Foo Fighters and Stormzy as well as Coldplay, Robbie Williams, Peter Kay, Billie Eilish, Adele and The Killers.
Moran is also the owner of Super League side Warrington Wolves and he is a shareholder in Manchester’s Co-op Live arena.